Immediate Media Co posts above market ABC performance

Immediate Media Company has delivered another strong performance in January to June 2012, posting an overall audited circulation of almost three million, delivering the strongest performance among the UK’s top publishing houses. In a challenging six-month period for the newstrade market, Immediate Media Co also retains its position as the No1 UK publisher for subscriptions, with 995,798 subscriptions in total, stable at -0.3% year on year.

Radio Times continues to lead the premium weekly listings market, with a strong circulation of 865,562; BBC History Magazine is up almost 3% year on year, one of several titles in Immediate Media’s factual group to show growth; the Youth and Children’s portfolio has grown 13.3% year on year, helped by a strong debut from Girl Talk Art and continued strong performances from CBeebies Art and CBeebies Special.

Highlights from Immediate Media  Co’s portfolio in the period January to June 2012:

•    Radio Times delivered a strong performance during this period; the title’s average weekly circulation for the first six months of 2012 was 865,562, down 3.9% year on year but outperforming the UK listings market, which is down 5.4%. The title also retains its position as the UK’s biggest selling weekly title for subscriptions;

•    Radio Times now outsells the rest of the premium titles put together by over 310k copies a week, with a share of 61%, generating £46.3m in retail sales value, up 7% on the same period last year;

•    Specialist factual title BBC History Magazine is up 2.9% year on year, with a circulation of 71,403; Homes and Antiques delivers a very strong circulation of 61,536, up 4.8% year on year; Countryfile Magazine is up 3.3% year on year, at 40,770; Gardens Illustrated is up 4.1% year on year, at 35,701; and Sky at Night Magazine is up 8.5% on last year, at 24,736;

•    The children’s portfolio is up 13.3% year on year, with a strong debut from Girl Talk Art, at 59,000. The pre-school portfolio is up an impressive 19.3% year on year and 7.7% period on period, with notably strong circulations from CBeebies Art, up 8.8% year on year and 4.8% period on period, at 66,706; and CBeebies Special, up 6.6% year on year, and up 4.4% period on period, at 64,696;

•    Gardeners’ World Magazine achieves a circulation of 254,530, up 17.5% period on period, down 4.1% year on year, but retains its strong market-leading position. Likewise, in a tough market Top Gear magazine is still the market-leading motoring title, with a circulation of 155,017; and BBC Good Food magazine is still the UK’s market-leading paid-for food title, at 267,164.

Immediate Media Co’s CEO, Tom Bureau, said: “In such a tough economy, I am delighted that Immediate Media Co's magazines continue to perform strongly, delivering high quality targeted content to our consumers and outperforming our key competitors. Our vision is to build the leading special interest content company, with magazines at the heart of a cross media strategy so it’s great to see trading so stable, with growth in a number of areas. After a period of restructure post-deal, and as we scale our multi-platform capability, we are building an exciting business."

Notes to Editors:

Total ABC audited circulation for Immediate Media Co’s titles in January to June 2012 is 2,961,308 (-2.4% year on year and -2.6% period on period).

Immediate Media Co was formed on 1 November 2011 following the merger of BBC Magazines, Origin Publishing and Magicalia. With an exciting mix of market-leading brands, great talent and technology expertise, the company combines a strong publishing heritage with digital platforms and entrepreneurial flair. Its wholly-owned brands include Radio Times, olive, Homes & Antiques and highly successful specialist titles including Perfect Wedding and Junior. It publishes Top Gear, Good Food, EasyCook and Lonely Planet Traveller magazine on behalf of BBC Worldwide and a number of other titles, including BBC History, Gardeners’ World, Focus and the CBeebies portfolio, under licence. The company also publishes leading digital brands such as MadeForMums.com, loveyourhair.com and visordown.com. With 800 staff in London and Bristol, Immediate Media Co has over 1 million subscribers, a brand reach of over 11 million UK consumers and revenues of £150m per annum. It is owned by Exponent Private Equity.

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